Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Most people have experienced intense sadness at some point in their lives, but when feelings of overwhelming sadness, helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness last long enough to affect your ability to function normally, your sadness may be more than a passing depression, it could be clinical depression, a medical condition.

Depression occurs when an individual presents five of the following signs for at least 2 weeks:

• A depressed mood during most of the day, particularly in the morning
• Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt almost every day
• Impaired concentration, indecisiveness
• Insomnia (an inability to sleep) or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) almost every day
• Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities nearly every day
• Recurring thoughts of death or suicide (not just fearing death)
• A sense of restlessness or being slowed down
• Significant weight loss or weight gain

In order to accurately diagnose depression, these signs should be present daily for at least 2 weeks, and cannot be the cause of medication or drugs.

Anxiety is a normal emotion that everyone feels from time to time. Many people feel nervous with faced with problems, whether it is due to work, before writing a test, or when making an important decision. However, anxiety disorders are different. People who suffer from anxiety disorders often experience distress that is so intense that it interferes with their ability to lead normal lives.

Anxiety disorder is a serious mental illness. People with this disorder are riddled with worry and fear that are so overwhelming it can be disabling. Fortunately, with counselling psychology, many people can manage those feelings and return to a more fulfilling life.

There are several types of anxiety disorders, including:

• Panic disorder – People with this condition have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. Other symptoms of a panic attack include sweating, chest pain, palpitations, and a feeling of choking.
• Social anxiety disorder – This involves overwhelming worry and self-consciousness about everyday social situations. The worry often centres on a fear of being judged by others or behaving in a way that might cause embarrassment.
• Specific phobias – These are intense fears of a specific object or situation, such as heights or flying.
• Generalised anxiety disorder – This is excessive, unrealistic worry and tension, even if there’s little or nothing to provoke the anxiety.

Symptoms of anxiety disorder depend on the type of anxiety, however, general symptoms include:

• Feelings of panic, fear, and uneasiness
• Problems sleeping
• Cold or sweaty hands or feet
• Shortness of breath
• Heart palpitations
• Not being able to be still and calm
• Dry mouth
• Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
• Nausea
• Muscle tension
• Dizziness

In my therapy sessions, we’ll work to solve current problems and improve positive thinking and behavior. I will help you “re-frame” your reactions and provide you with valuable tools to cope with life’s obstacles. I’m confident you’ll find my personalized Private Counseling beneficial and inspirational. Get in touch to book an appointment.

Stress is caused by a myriad of factors, both physical and emotional. Identifying the cause of stress is often the first step to dealing with it. Some of the most common causes of stress may include:

Survival Stress – This is a common response to danger in all people and animals. When we are afraid that someone or something may physically harm us, our bodies naturally respond with a burst of energy to help us survive the dangerous situation, or escape it all together.

Internal Stress – This is one of the most important kinds of stress to understand and manage. Internal stress is when people make themselves stressed. This often happens when they worry about things that they can’t control, or knowingly put themselves in stressful situations.

Environmental Stress – This is a response to things around you that cause stress, such as noise, crowding, and pressure from work or family. Identifying these environmental stresses and learning to avoid them or deal with them will help lower your stress level.

Fatigue and Overwork – This builds up over a long time and can take a hard toll on the body. It can be caused by working too much or too hard at work, school, or home. It can also be caused by not knowing how to manage time, or how to rest and relax. This can be one of the hardest kinds of stress to avoid because many people feel this is out of their control.

The opinion that you form about yourself often appears to be statements of fact. These opinions are based on the experiences that you have had in life and the messages that these experiences have given you about the person you are. If your life experiences have been negative, your beliefs about yourself will be negative too.

Often, the most important experience that shape our beliefs about ourselves occur early in life. Things that we have heard and experienced in childhood have an influence on the way that we see ourselves. Examples of these experiences that lead to negativity and a low self-esteem may include:

• Systematic punishment, neglect or abuse
• Failing to meet parental standards
• Failing to meet peer-group standards
• Being on the receiving end of other people’s stress or distress
• Belonging to a family or social group that other people are prejudiced towards
• An absence of praise, warmth, affection or interest
• Being the odd one out, at home or at school
• In some cases, negative beliefs about yourself are caused by experiences that arise later in life, such as workplace intimidation or bullying, abusive relationships, traumatic events, persistent stress or hardship.

As you grow up, you take the voices of people who were significant to you with you. You may criticise yourself in their sharp tones, and make the same comparisons with other people that they did. Your experiences create a foundation for general conclusions about yourself; judgements about you as a person. This is the negative view of the self that lies at the heart of low self-esteem.